Top 5 features review of FabFilter Pro-L 2 at Plugin Boutique

Plugin Boutique has launched some new videos on the FabFilter Pro-L 2 limiter effect plugin. In the video below, Joshua Casper takes a look at some of the new features of the limiter that offers precise true peak level meters and extensive loudness metering.

The limiting style algorithms have doubled from 4 to 8. Including the new default style title called modern which is best for all situations. There is also aggressive which is great for transient heavy music like EDM, Bus which is useful in stem mastering in conjunction with the new sidechaining feature, and final Safe whose goal isn’t loudness buy being distortion free at all times.

Over to the right side of Pro L 2 you will see the new Loudness meter. This meter uses the more modern LUFS system, however, the K-Scale standards from Pro L 1 have been carried over. We have 4 built in targets including -9 LUFS for CD mastering, -14 LUFS for streaming mastering, and two more targets for broadcast standards. Switching the time scale at the bottom of the meter from momentary to short-term will give you an average enabling you to hit your targets easier.

Inter Sample Peak, or ISP, metering has been changed to the more modern True Peak Metering. On top of that, Pro L 2 now has True Peak Limiting which will catch any ISPs that might be caused by the future digital to analog conversion making sure your master will never experience clipping while being converted. While we are on the subject of ISPs, oversampling went for a measly 4x in Pro L 1 to the jaw-dropping 32x. This is incredibly CPU intensive, but we now have options for 8 and 16x as well.

There are now 4 output options including DC offset filtering, sidechaining, and my last two favourite additions to the Pro L series. The unity gain button causes relative gain matching at the flip of the switch. This scales the limited signal’s output to match that of the source material allowing you to focus on the changes in the audio from the limiting process while bypassing Pro L 2.

The Audition Limiting button. This allows you to solo the actual gain reduction signal being applied to the audio. This is an incredibly useful feature when deciding on the limiting style, how much to tweak the advanced parameters, and, of course, how limiting should be applied overall.

Make sure to check some of Plugin Boutique’s other videos on Pro-L 2, covering the new features in-depth.